Marketing is considered one of the most important levers for companies that want profit. With this tool, the company ensures to generate traffic and target new customers who correspond to its expectations. Therefore, the company loves an economy of scale which will be useful for its growth. With the emergence of digital, we are witnessing a new kind of marketing, it is digital marketing. The latter has considerably upset the sector thanks to web strategies, social networks, and mobile devices. In a world where advertising messages abound from everywhere, the consumer is quickly asphyxiated, and no longer knows which direction to look at.
It is not easy for a brand to develop a good strategy in such an environment by a brand strategist. Companies to achieve their goals must reinvent themselves and implement a good marketing strategy. However, designing a strategy is not always easy, this requires considering different digital levers.
What is a marketing strategy?
The sales and marketing strategy can be defined as a coordinated action plan. The marketing plan is designed for the short, medium, and long term by a company to achieve marketing and commercial objectives. It is established from the analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the company, and the study of its environment. As a company, its goal is to adapt your strategy to the explicit or implicit demands of the market in which you operate.
The idea is to determine the needs, and target the potential customers, to then conceptualize the goods and services to put on the market. Digital communication, advertising, and promotions are only part of digital marketing, but the most visible part to the public.
A web marketing strategy requires time for reflection and analysis, to find the ideal framework for a company. This plan must effectively match supply to demand, to match the company’s overall communication strategy. The success of a web marketing strategy is based on well-organized and constant work that is done over the long term.
Most of the time, digital marketing strategies embrace economies of scale more than organizational synergies. A good marketing and communication department must identify as much information as possible on the market before marketing its offer. The goal is to improve its commercial strategy to complete the marketing plan of the company being developed.
How to Define a Marketing Strategy?
A company while generating a profit from its activities, must be able to create value. Previously, the marketing of a product was done directly by placing it on the market, without having any idea of the prospects. Today, the numerous marketing tools and the highly competitive economic environment mean that there is an overabundance of supply. The consumer has several similar products to satisfy the same need. Demand is therefore exploding in small markets, to which targeted offers must be made.
Thus, marketing nowadays intervenes at all levels of value creation. Here are the 3 main steps for developing your marketing strategy through trade advertising.
1 – Clearly define the marketing objectives of the company
To start, it is important to set the objectives to be achieved. On the other hand, you may have no idea of the important objectives for your company this year. So that you do not have to blindly choose your objectives, the canvas below is proposed to you:
Very specific: give a value between 0 and 10 to your objectives and establish deadlines. Whether monthly, quarterly, or annually is up to the expert to decide. Avoid doing it globally, for example, “I want to have more likes on my pages” or “we need to work more on the Instagram page this year”.
Measurable objectives: ensure that you can follow up on the chosen objectives and measure their impact.
Achievable goals: setting ambitious goals is good, but they must be achievable according to your level.
Achievable goals: you know your capacity and the limits of your team. So be honest with yourself and choose accordingly. Anticipate as well as possible the obstacles that you would have to overcome.
A defined time: set a deadline to achieve the objectives. Do not just say that the efforts will pay off “one day”.
2 – Identify the marketing target
The second step is to identify your target audience or buyer personas. Practice allows you to hit the targets first. You will determine what they are looking for and what their role is in the decision-making process. This first step is crucial because it allows you to effectively target your market to finally adjust your message to each type of profile.
3 – Analyze the customer buying journey
Throughout his customer journey, the buyer of a property goes through 3 stages. First, there is awareness, the client during this time formulates the symptoms of his problem. Comes after the consideration, he realizes the solutions available to solve his problem. Finally, the decision is up to the consumer, and he chooses the solution that meets his expectations, then he evaluates the suppliers capable of bringing him this solution.
An effective marketing strategy will attach importance to the position of the buyer persona in their buying journey. For example, making a promotional offer of 20% on the repair of a set of machines while the customer is wondering about the acquisition of another machine is not appropriate. To this end, it is necessary to set up a marketing strategy around a very solid content strategy.
Here are 4 more steps to follow to develop a complete marketing strategy
1 – Produce content that brings value
To build your content strategy, you must observe the habits of your targets, the questions that come up often, and the subjects that fascinate them. Writing blog posts on your platforms that answer your target audience’s questions is also a way to achieve this. Then, you must compile the answers that you have already been able to provide to your E-mailing customers and make a blog article of them.
Thus, Internet searches on the web will result in phrases that provide a clear answer to their questions. The SEO strategy that every business dreams of is the one that works on its own.
2 – Need new ideas, involve your internal business experts
To innovate and increase market share, it is essential to find new ideas. To this end, it is necessary to exchange most often with the employees who are in daily contact with the customers. The various employees of a digital marketing agency such as sales representatives and after-sales service are in the best position to send you customer impressions. Also, their expectations or the problems encountered
Also, do not hesitate to interview loyal customers and ask them for feedback on the company’s products and services. You will be delighted to see how these questions can generate a considerable number of new ideas for your content, but also your products.
3 – Observe your competitors on the market
Of course, it’s always a good idea to look at what the competition is offering when it comes to marketing strategy. An analysis of competitors’ marketing strategies helps the company to differentiate itself from other companies. Thus, it is possible to add more to your structure. In addition, this has the advantage of keeping) informed of the latest practices in this area.
4 – Have the right marketing tools
To successfully formulate and effectively apply your marketing strategy, you need the right tools. On the web, there are thousands of them, it is possible to use free tools or to take paid ones. One of the most comprehensive marketing tools is HubSpot. It is an all-in-one marketing platform that with a simple connection provides access to all your social networks, your blogs, your sites, your analytical data, your database, or your campaigns. marketing.
How to measure the effects of your marketing strategy?
To know if a strategy is effective, it is necessary to measure its results of it at the same time as things evolve. This means that it is not necessary to do it at the end of the year. This allows you to readjust and course correct for optimal results. The performance indicators to be assessed are:
New leads: how many new leads are attracted each month or quarter.
Quality of leads: prospects can become future customers, they are based on a few criteria such as the size of the company, and the content sought….
The “sales qualified leads”: customers from prospecting want to get in touch with a member of your team in the sales section. The sales and marketing team, as part of the customer relationship process, agree to meet the leads according to a periodicity (month or quarter).
Opportunity: this is the set of prospects engaged through the sales team and who will narrate their customer experience. Subsequently, thanks to a loyalty mechanism, it is very likely that they will become real customers.
Customers: the number of new customers you have acquired that are genuinely earning you money.
The CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost): the cost of acquiring a customer can be evaluated by doing the following calculation (additional marketing cost + communication cost) / number of customers over a defined period.
These different results give you an overview of the return on investment of the different digital strategies.